Agrawala, a computer science professor at the University of Maryland, began development on the “V911” smart phone application for the campus 2 1/2 years ago. Now the app is finished and expected to be available for students to download in early spring. How does V911 work?
The idea is that if you needed help, instead of dialing 911, you press one button on your smart phone. … And we know whose smart phone it is, so the information that goes to the police dispatcher includes who you are and where you are. But in addition we open an audio and a video connection so the dispatcher can hear and see what’s going on [at] the incident scene. … There are various campus cameras which are deployed. … Those cameras automatically zoom down to that scene and those videos are also made available to the dispatcher.
Why did you develop the app?
Basically, with the concerns that I had had about the safety of the students and the campus community after the kinds of incidents that happened at Virginia Tech and other places, I was trying to think about the kinds of technologies that can be developed to help either prevent or provide better support to the responders.
How do you think it will benefit students?
I think that they’ll feel a lot safer. I think once this gets known that on campus this kind of system is deployed, I think that it will be a very major preventative.
Is this a new approach to safety for universities?
I do not know if a similar system is even being considered by another other group. … I think it should be made available everywhere, not just college campuses.
How does this demonstrate how technology can help keep students safe?
It is empowering them to supply much more relevant and much more timely information to the people who are responsible for their safety.
